2018 Melges 24 European Championship - Montura Is Only Second to Maidollis in the Second Day in Riva del Garda

08.08.2018

August 7, 2018 - Riva del Garda, Italy - "The day has been more than positive, almost perfect for Arkanoè by Montura": this is the comment of Karlo Hmeljak, tactician on board of Arkanoè by Montura by owner and helmsman Sergio Caramel, after the second day of racing at Riva del Garda for the 2018 Melges 24 European Championship.

"We had two good starts that allowed us to play the game with all the top teams in this fleet. Taking advantage of the first downwind, which was the trickiest to interpret, we could gain a good margin over our followers, obtaining the first victory of the series and then racing more conservatively in the second race, which we closed in third place," said the two-time Olympic Slovenian athlete Karlo Hmeljak.

Arkanoe by Montura ITA809 in front of the fleet. - Photo (c) Pierrick Contin

A great second day, then, for the team of Arkanoè by Montura (ITA809, 1-2 today), which affirms itself as best boat of the day and climbs up from the sixth to the second position in the overall standings, second only to the 2017 World Champions aboard Maidollis (ITA854, 7-4 partials of today) by Gian Luca Perego, with Carlo Fracassoli at the helm and Enrico Fonda at the tactical choices.

Two times Corinthian World Champions on Taki 4 (ITA778, 9-3 today). Photo (c) Pierrick Contin

The third place in the general standings remains unchanged, occupied by the two times Corinthian World Champions on Taki 4 (ITA778, 9-3 today) that, with a margin of 34 points on the Estonian entry Lenny (EST790, 13-10) and of 38 over Storm Capital Sail Racing (NOR751, 23-5), also lead the ranking of the division reserved for non-professionals.

Caipirinha Junior ITA633 with Matteo Ivaldi - Pierrick Contin

Caipirinha Junior ITA633 with Matteo Ivaldi at the helm and Gabriele Benussi calling tactics, wins the second race today. - Photo (c) Pierrick Contin

The provisional top-five, after four races, is completed by the American crew of Travis Weisleder, Lucky Dog / Gill Race Team (USA749, 12-11) and Caipirinha Junior (ITA633, 8-1) who, with Matteo Ivaldi at the helm and Gabriele Benussi calling tactics, wins the second race today and moves from ninth to fifth position in the general ranking.

Day Two highlights - now, with four results in the score line, Italian Gian Luca Luca Perego's Maidollis is leading the ranking in front of Italian Sergio Caramel's Arkanoe by Montura. Video filmed and edited by Zerogradinord.

"As in the first two days, tomorrow we will call the fleet on the water for the first warning signal at 1.00 pm. Today we started with almost an hour of delay but this was due to the fact that some members of our staff in the water had to activate and wait for the rescue procedures for a rock climber who had suffered from an accident on the mountains just above our race course, at an height of approximately 300 meters. The climber was eventually rescued by the men of the helicopter emergency service," commented Fausto Maroni, organizer from Fraglia Vela Riva.

The next appointment is set for tomorrow, Wednesday August 8th at 13.00. The PRO Hank Stuart will have the chance to start up to three races and the worst result will be discarded at the end of the sixth race.

TOP 12 ranking after four races:

MAIDOLLIS ITA854 Carlo Fracassoli, Enrico Fonda, Gianluca Perego, Stefano Lagi, Matteo Ramian 1- 1-7-4 13 p
ARKANOE by MONTURA ITA809 Sergio Caramel, Karlo Hmeljak, Riccardo Gomiero, Nicholas Dal Ferro, Margherita Zanuso 8-9-1-2 20 p
TAKI 4 ITA778 COR Niccolo Bertola, Giacomo Fossati, Giovanni Bannetta, Marco Zammarchi, Lorenzo Piccioni 7-7-9-3 26 p
LUCKY DOG / GILL RACE TEAM USA749 Travis Weisleder, Mike Buckley, George Peet, John Bowden, Megan Ratliff 2-2-12-11 27 p
CAIPIRINHA JR ITA633 Matteo Ivaldi, Gabriele Benussi, Francesco Rubagotti, Vittorio Zaoli, Camilla Bert 5-20-8-1 34 p
WAR CANOE USA841 Mike Goldfarb, Morten Henriksen, David Brink, Salvador Sanchez Rodriguez, Jonny Goldsberry 21- 5-6-7 39 p
ALTEA ITA722 Andrea Racchelli, Gaudenzio Bonini, Alberto Verna, Michele Gregoratto, Federico Zampiccoli 9-16-2-16 43 p
BLACK SEAL GBR822 Stefano Cherin, Nigel Young, Mike Claxton, Amy Harrington, Julie Tingle 3-12-24-15 54 p
FGF SAILING TEAM HUN728 Robert Bakoczy, Domonkos Rozsnyay, Levente Takacsy, Bence Buza, Baldizsar Buza 14-3-17-20 54 p
GENERAL LEE ITA793 Mario Ziliani, Lorenzo Tonini, Riccardo Tonini, Samuele Nicolettis, Angelo Bertoletti 12-8-11-29 60 p
LENNY EST790 COR Tõnu Tõniste,Toomas Tõniste, Tammo Otsasoo, Maiki Saaring, Henri Tauts 26- 11-13-10 60 p
STORM CAPITAL SAIL RACING NOR751 COR Oyvind Peder Jahre, Ane Gundersen, Eirik Sola Fischer, Marius Falch Orvin, Sivert Denneche 18-18-23-5 64 p

Full results after 4 races | Fraglia Vela Riva regatta page

Day 2 photos by (c) Pierrick Contin - contin.fr

Live tracking via KWINDOO - KWINDOO gives you a whole new experience for both racers and viewers.

Event Press Officers - Mauro Melandri and Silvia Gallegati - Zerogradinord

Event photographer - Pierrick Contin, contin.fr
Event Media Coordinator - Piret Salmistu, IM24CA

Schedule of the Event:

August 3-5 - Registration and Measurement
August 5 - Practice Race and Opening Ceremonies with Skippers' Briefing
August 6-10 - Racing the Melges 24 European Championship
August 10 - Prizegiving and Closing Ceremonies

Event's and IM24CA media: